Mummies are often associated with ancient Egyptians even though they were not the only culture that mummified dead humans and animals. The Chinese did, too. The Egyptians were probably not the first, either. The Chinchorro people of Chile have been mummifying their dead since 5000 BC. The first Egyptian mummy was created 2,000 years later. […]
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Staying in a hotel is one of life's luxuries. Hotels are big business and sell the idea of total relaxation in which a customer becomes a guest and the staff will cater to his every need. Consider how many visitors pass through an average hotel room. Once you get over the horror stories of germs […]
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It was a beautiful day in May 1991 when an unknown, nondescript cowboy walked into the American Federal Bank in Irving, Texas. Tellers would later describe him as a white man in his mid-forties who stood 178 centimeters (5’10"). A bit on the heavy side, he had a noticeable paunch. He wore all black, save […]
The post 10 Unbelievable Facts About Cowboy Bob appeared first on Listverse.

America seems to be a very serial killer-obsessed place; just take a look around Netflix or search for serial killer documentaries on YouTube. On top of that, the US accounts for a whopping 67.41 percent of the world’s serial killers, with over 2,700 of them on record.[1] These two factors in combination have some unintended […]
The post 10 Twisted Facts About Javed Iqbal, The Pakistani Serial Killer appeared first on Listverse.

The purpose of most legislation is to promote acceptable behavior and to prevent or punish unacceptable behavior. Still, it can be hard to understand the laws and customs of other countries, and travelers are often advised to take care not to inadvertently break the law. Often, travelers can get a good idea of what is […]
The post 10 Really Strange Laws You Might Accidentally Break appeared first on Listverse.

Dead people and skeletons are often the last thing we expect at tourist attractions—at least most of the time. While some places are visited for their human remains, most aren’t. Nonetheless, there are some vacation destinations that happen to have dead people or skeletons lying around. Some tourist attractions discreetly contain bodies that tourists may […]
The post 10 Popular Tourist Attractions Filled With Human Remains appeared first on Listverse.

If we asked you if something was natural or not, there's a good chance that you would find it easy to answer. After all, we have well-defined ideas of what's man-made and what's not. If you dug a bit deeper, though, you'd realize that many things we automatically assume to be natural aren't natural at […]
The post 10 ‘Natural’ Things You Won’t Believe Are Actually Man-Made appeared first on Listverse.

It's kind of a paradox: Plenty of people fantasize about having a "secret garden" backyard, with flowers blooming throughout the year. How many of those people have the time and will to properly tend to such a garden, however, is another story. At the very least, many people have a favorite flower—even if that flower […]
The post 10 Beautiful But Toxic Flowers appeared first on Listverse.

Many of the greatest minds in physics and engineering have spent considerable time thinking about interstellar travel. They have come up with detailed concepts and designs for spaceships that are capable of sending humans to the stars. Each design has its own way to overcome the main challenge of interstellar travel: the distance to the […]
The post 10 Realistic Designs For Interstellar Spaceships appeared first on Listverse.

It's a rarely discussed global phenomenon, but people are beating up, dismembering, and destroying robots. Nobody knows exactly why this is happening. Anti-robot violence is a disturbing trend that continues to grow as robots become more immersed in human society. Experts contemplate the reasons why people are raging against the machine. One possibility is the […]
The post 10 Times Robots Were Brutally Assaulted By Humans appeared first on Listverse.

When we picture a stalker, we often envision a sinister man terrorizing his victim with persistent harassment, and in all likelihood, most of the stalkers you hear about are male. However, the female of the species can be just as deadly as the male. There are many reasons why someone might feel compelled to stalk […]
The post 10 Creepiest Real-Life Accounts Of Female Stalkers appeared first on Listverse.

A host of medical hiccups can hit the human body. Microscopic bugs, injuries, and failing systems are the classics. More intriguing are the rare cases, some only appearing for the first or second time. Say hello to semi-identical twins, children who cannot move after dark, and serious gender switching. The senses go haywire in unbelievable […]
The post Top 10 Strange Medical Conditions That Really Exist appeared first on Listverse.

We all lie sometimes. Studies have shown that, on average, humans lie 1.65 times a day, and it is believed that this is a conservative estimate.[1] In other words, the participants in the survey lied about how much they lie! Some people, however, take lying to a whole new level, either because of the scale […]
The post 10 World-Class Liars Who Just Didn’t Know When To Stop appeared first on Listverse.

If you’re feeling a bit down in the dumps, we’ve got the solution. This list focuses only on positive, inspirational, and amusing stories from the last few days, which ensure that you won’t end the week on a sour note. Click here if you also want to read up on the weird happenings. This week, […]
The post 10 Uplifting Stories To Get You Through The Week (3/17/19) appeared first on Listverse.

Memes are humorous. That's the idea. If you’ve been on the Internet at any point ever, you’ve probably come across one. Maybe you’ve even made a few of your own and reveled in your own creative wit. But memes don’t always turn out well for everyone involved. Several people have helplessly watched their lives ruined […]
The post 10 Times Memes Got People In Trouble appeared first on Listverse.

English history is full of tales about famous, heroic knights. From the legendary King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table to the rebellious Harry Hotspur and Black Prince of Wales, there are enough chivalric stories to fill hundreds of books. But the Chivalric Code was a real way of life for thousands of […]
The post 10 Awesome Medieval Knights You’ve Never Heard Of appeared first on Listverse.

Yet again, it is time to look at some of the more unusual or unique stories that made their way through the news cycle over the last several days. Animals take center stage this week as we cover killer chickens and the efforts of scientists to bring the woolly mammoth back from the dead. We […]
The post 10 Offbeat Stories You Might Have Missed This Week (3/16/19) appeared first on Listverse.

These days, "vaccination" is an inflammatory word. Anti-vaxxers discourage the practice while governments insist that those little vials are safe. At times, both have been wrong. Unvaccinated children have battled for their lives against preventable diseases, and vaccines have been linked to adverse medical conditions. As the picture broadens, things get strange. From kids getting […]
The post 10 Fascinating Facts And Stories About Vaccination appeared first on Listverse.

How can one express the complex emotion of love? A broad range of art forms have been used for this very purpose. There's no doubt you've heard the romantic tale of the Taj Mahal, a mausoleum built by an emperor for his favorite wife who died giving birth to their 14th child. It's both achingly […]
The post 10 Grand Romantic Gestures With Art You’ve Never Heard Of appeared first on Listverse.

Just like human babies, animals are keen to taste everything. After all, how can you know that a car tire is not your favorite snack unless you give it a shot? And with the constant growth of the human population, most animals are bound to encounter people or their belongings at some point. Despite being […]
The post 10 Animals That Swallowed Inedible Objects appeared first on Listverse.

Nonliving objects and animals are not always safe from litigation. Over the years, people have sued animals and even inanimate objects like puppets. In turn, people have been sued by animals and nonhuman objects. Obviously, lawsuits of this nature aren’t actually filed by animals or nonliving things but by people or groups. While the following […]
The post 10 Weird Court Cases Involving Puppets, Animals, And Human Fetuses appeared first on Listverse.

Photography has come a long way. At times, it’s hard to believe that black-and-white photographs were the only type available some decades ago. Nowadays, we have so many options. And let's not even talk about current photography fads like the selfie. But we do not have a monopoly on photography fads. In fact, the people […]
The post 10 Strange But Interesting Early Photography Fads appeared first on Listverse.

Many people believe that World War II was fought in the cities of Europe and the islands of the South Pacific. It was, but what those people forget is that for about a year from 1942 to 1943, the Imperial Japanese Army occupied the Alaskan islands of Attu and Kiska. This occupation shocked and terrified […]
The post 10 Facts About The Japanese Invasion Of Alaska appeared first on Listverse.

Superheroes are the objects of fancy and admiration for millions the world over. They right wrongs, protect the weak, and rescue society from innumerable forms of injustice and peril. There’s only one glaring problem: They aren’t real. The incredible feats performed by these stalwart defenders are made possible by uncanny powers that, sadly, are fictional. […]
The post Top 10 Real Superpowers You Can Learn appeared first on Listverse.

Humans beings are inherent problem-solvers, as evidenced by having successfully made our way through the carnival of problems that has been our history. Sometimes, however, despite our best intentions, some of those solutions actually end up making the problem even worse than it was before. You’ve probably heard the adage, “Necessity is the mother of […]
The post 10 Supposedly Good Ideas That Backfired appeared first on Listverse.

The cold cubes in your soda deserve a hat tip. They are made of capable stuff, spawning mysterious feats like emerald green icebergs in Antarctica and ice volcanoes in space. The frosty wonder can also move in nanoseconds, hide things for millions of years, and become the material of choice in a nuclear disaster. Ice […]
The post Top 10 Intriguing Things That Make Ice Incredible appeared first on Listverse.

Sometimes, nature has had enough of us killing ourselves and has just intervened. Throughout history, armies and navies have met in combat, only to find themselves battling storms and hurricanes instead. Nature may separate the warring parties, forcing one or both to retreat. At other times, it delivers the decisive blow, causing a crushing defeat […]
The post 10 Times Nature Ended Human Conflict appeared first on Listverse.

For many readers, our journey into the fantasy genre began with Professor J.R.R. Tolkien. Whether it was through The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, or even through Peter Jackson's movie adaptations, from the first moment, we were hooked. Tolkien is known to have inspired some of the top names in modern fantasy, from […]
The post 10 Tales That Inspired Tolkien appeared first on Listverse.

The Bermuda Triangle is famous for strange happenings and disappearances in the ocean nestled between Florida and Bermuda. That famous area has a smaller cousin further north, centered around Glastenbury Mountain in the southwestern part of Vermont. This mysterious area is known as the Bennington Triangle. The Bennington Triangle has a history that predates the […]
The post 10 Creepy Mysteries Of The Bennington Triangle appeared first on Listverse.

Musicians are just as corruptible as the rest of us. It is commonplace now to see your favorite musicians in trouble with authorities for drug charges or drunken stupors. Drug- and alcohol-related arrests have become something of a staple of the music industry. However, in rare circumstances, musicians get into trouble for the unlikeliest of […]
The post 10 Bizarre Times Musicians Got Into Trouble With The Authorities appeared first on Listverse.

They may seem lifeless, but mountains, caves, and canyons are busy. Not just in a geological way, either. Unusual things are left there by strangers and billionaires alike. Mountains also hold seed arks, a strange psychosis, and supernatural sightings. The earthier side is not to be outdone. From methane rivers to mountain ranges nobody can […]
The post 10 Curious Facts Involving Canyons And Mountains appeared first on Listverse.

Ever since humans discovered the existence of germs, we’ve done our best to minimize or destroy them in our homes and bodies. The market for antimicrobial coating products is already massive and is estimated to reach a total value of $4.19 billion by 2021. By far, the medical field demands the largest share of antimicrobials, […]
The post 10 Things Your Microbes Can Say About You appeared first on Listverse.

In the United States alone, there are approximately 116,867 libraries of all kinds. Americans are accustomed to having free access to information that ranges far and wide. It wasn't always that way. Books used to be exclusively for the elite. They were too costly for the common man—and rare to boot. The tradition of social […]
The post 10 Illegal Libraries appeared first on Listverse.

As Mufasa from The Lion King so rightfully stated, we are all a part of the circle of life. The planet, the ecosystems, and all the plants and animals on Earth are connected on a deep level. In many ways, the survival and existence of one species often depends on the survival of many others. […]
The post 10 Animals Humans Need To Survive appeared first on Listverse.

Courts can categorize nonhuman entities like rivers, forests, mountains, and animals as humans. The courts do not necessarily call them humans straight-up. Instead, they give them the same rights given to humans. When this happens, harm against the nonhuman entity will carry the same punishment as harm against humans. Imagine getting tried for assault because […]
The post 10 Nonhumans That Are Legally Humans appeared first on Listverse.

If the week has got you down, this list might help lift your spirits. We looked at all the positive, inspiring, and amusing stories that made the headlines over the last few days and put them all into one list. It goes well with a side of quirkiness from our offbeat stories list. This week […]
The post 10 Uplifting Stories To Get You Through The Week (3/10/19) appeared first on Listverse.

It’s Saturday, which means, as always, that it’s time to catch up on the weird side of the news. Just in case you weren’t able to stay up-to-date with the important recent world events, we've got you covered. This is a look at a few uncanny stories that made the headlines recently. We have quite […]
The post 10 Offbeat Stories You Might Have Missed This Week (3/9/19) appeared first on Listverse.

Many people have studied body language to figure out what an individual is saying nonverbally through unconscious gestures or movements. Facial expressions and the way someone holds his body are supposed to tell us what a person really means, even if it conflicts with that person’s words. One area of body language isn’t that difficult […]
The post 10 Common Hand Gestures That Used To Mean Something Else appeared first on Listverse.

The idea of using contraceptives is as old as time. Due to the advanced medicine of today, we have many forms available to suit anyone’s needs, but this wasn’t always the case. From stealthy pessaries to handcrafted condoms, the birth control devices of old range from ineffective to bizarre. The first birth control clinic in […]
The post 10 Old-School And Obscure Birth Control Methods You Didn’t Know appeared first on Listverse.

For the purposes of this list, “crisis” shall refer to negative circumstances that could alter a nation's economy. Most of the time, such a description would be fit by large-scale disasters like wars, epidemics, and famine. Sometimes, however, portents of doom might barely seem newsworthy. Seemingly innocuous things like a low birth rate, a shortage […]
The post 10 Countries Currently Experiencing Some Unusual Crisis appeared first on Listverse.

Radioactivity is an energy born when atoms break apart. These rays and particles are not flesh friendly. However, as money and curiosity often override ethics, history is filled with radioactive products, health fads, and illegal human experiments. The zingy particles also cause odd dangers after nuclear explosions and, in a very alarming way, to crematorium […]
The post Top 10 Strange Radioactive Facts And Stories appeared first on Listverse.

Humans are an incredibly diverse species, which is evident from the many differences between the multitude of cultures spread across the world. From different customs, ways of living, types of food, and languages, it'd be hard for an outside observer to ascertain that we're the same creatures after all. Despite all these differences, though, there […]
The post 10 Things We All Surprisingly Do The Same appeared first on Listverse.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but for some lucky and daring photographers, that picture can be worth $15,000 and some serious notoriety. The Pulitzer Prize for photography has existed in various forms since 1942, and the award has been given to photographers of some of the most important images ever recorded. […]
The post 10 Stories Behind Incredible Pulitzer Prize–Winning Photographs appeared first on Listverse.

Humans are often called as witnesses to testify in courts and before Congress. As we are about to find out, being a witness is not exclusive to humans. Animals, puppets, and robots have also fulfilled that role. Animals have been called as witnesses in criminal proceedings because they saw the crimes or got involved in […]
The post 10 Times Nonhumans Were Called As Witnesses appeared first on Listverse.

When you put the words "castle" and "Europe" together, several famous castles are bound to enter your mind. Thanks to the rise of social media, these renowned fortresses are more prevalent than ever. Perhaps the most famous castle in the world is Neuschwanstein, near Munich, Germany, which is said to be the inspiration for Walt […]
The post 10 Amazing Castles In Europe You’ve Probably Never Heard Of appeared first on Listverse.

Cringeworthy paper cuts aside, the realm of pain is packed with freaky facts. There is the horror of the world’s most noxious bush, why flesh-destroying bacteria really hurt, and the family that cannot be hurt. Agony has a sweet side, too. Some pain feels good, and then there is a walk more popular (and crippling) […]
The post Top 10 Peculiar Facts About Pain appeared first on Listverse.

You're going on vacation next month. That means it's time to start researching which friend you're going to hire to come with you. Yes, you read that right. The new normal for tourism-based enterprises seems to be getting weirder and weirder. The tourism sector has experienced some debatably strange new business models arising from consumers’ […]
The post 10 Bizarre Things People Rent While Traveling appeared first on Listverse.

Governments and businesses often commission studies to determine the dangers of a new or existing product. Governments also fund studies before passing new laws. However, this becomes a problem when the results of the study differ from what the business or government expected. When this happens, they might withhold the results and pretend it never […]
The post 10 Studies That Got Their Results Withheld Because Of Money appeared first on Listverse.

Whether we refer to the act of living or to all sentient beings in this world, life has always been a difficult concept for humans to understand. Even when life has preceded us on this planet for 3.5 billion years—and we ourselves have roamed Earth for plenty of millennia—there are many questions about it that […]
The post 10 Answers To Strange Questions About Life And Death appeared first on Listverse.

The peanut butter industry has been thriving for decades. With a wide variety of brands, tastes, and textures, it is one of the most versatile foods on the market. Due to a large assortment of culinary applications, peanut butter can be found almost anywhere. Some people would rather stick to the classic peanut butter and […]
The post 10 Surprising Peanut Butter Facts appeared first on Listverse.

The body is an accumulated wonder of parts fine-tuned by nature to perform precision tasks. Venture past the usual facts, and things tend to get interesting. In recent times, unknown body parts have turned up in fossils and living creatures, ranging from cute to creepy to deadly. Doctors have grown things in strange places and […]
The post 10 Fascinating Facts And Stories Involving Body Parts appeared first on Listverse.

Usually when traveling, flyers try to rush through airports as quickly as possible in an effort to reach their final destinations, the spots where they really want to spend some time. This is especially true for vacationers who just want to get away from it all. But what if you’ve been missing one of the […]
The post 10 Coolest Airports In The World appeared first on Listverse.

Why do modern-day humans appear so drastically different from apes when ape species don't look all that different from one another? Fifty years ago, the mainstream scientific consensus said that our ancestors went from living in trees to hunting on the savanna. Then fossil evidence challenged what we thought we knew. In the Great Rift […]
The post 10 Reasons To Believe We Have Aquatic Ape Ancestors appeared first on Listverse.

Millions of people across the globe wake up each morning to brighten their day with a delicious bowl of crunchy flakes or chewy oats with milk. Cereal is an American breakfast favorite, a fact made clear through television ads, commercial jingles, and the wide variety of textures, shapes, and flavors it comes in, even necessitating […]
The post 10 Cereals With Strange And Interesting Backstories appeared first on Listverse.

Most speeches follow an entirely conventional pattern. They are often self-congratulatory, bombastic, and, let's face it, boring. However, it pays to listen closely because there are times when even an ordinary speech can take a sudden turn and leave the audience wondering whether they heard correctly. Some speakers, given an opportunity to have their say, […]
The post 10 Great Speeches That Really Put The Boot In appeared first on Listverse.

March is here, and we want to start you off on a happy note. That’s why this list has some of the more inspiring and amusing stories that happened over the last few days. If you would also like to read about bizarre and outlandish occurrences, check out the offbeat list right here. This week […]
The post 10 Uplifting Stories To Get You Through The Week (3/3/19) appeared first on Listverse.

The beauty of origami appeals to the eye as well as the mind. Designs using paper can yield both detailed sculptural works of animals and flowers. They also employ powerful mathematical principles. Since the 1960s, modern engineering and design have been able to harness both the beauty and the power of origami techniques to introduce […]
The post 10 Ways Origami-Inspired Designs Can Be Used In The Modern World appeared first on Listverse.

“Little people,” among other meanings, is a generic term for mythological creatures that generally look like very small humans. Such entities are especially prevalent in European folklore and include fairies, goblins, gremlins, dwarves, imps, pixies, and gnomes. They vary in size and looks, and some are good, while others are malevolent or a mixture of […]
The post 10 ‘Little People’ Myths From Around The World appeared first on Listverse.

Another week has passed, which means that it is time, once again, to look at some of the bizarre stories that made the headlines recently. If you want to read up on the more serious stuff, click here. This week’s list has a party vibe to it as we talk about beer, cannabis, and the […]
The post 10 Offbeat Stories You Might Have Missed This Week (3/2/19) appeared first on Listverse.

Lost in the hubbub over Budweiser's finger-pointing corn-syrup Super Bowl ad was an unprecedented spot from another beer company: Michelob became the first brand to air an ASMR-inspired commercial in such a high-profile setting. ASMR is the newest sensation. Short for autonomous sensory meridian response, ASMR is an experience characterized by a tingling, sometimes static-like […]
The post 10 Spine-Tingling Truths About ASMR appeared first on Listverse.

Dinosaurs terrorized Earth’s lesser creatures for nearly 200 million years. But many details of their daily lives are lost to history forever—or at least until a reliable time machine is built. Don’t let that bum you out, though, because scientists are really good at gleaning loads of information from the most seemingly inconsequential remains. From […]
The post 10 Fascinating Peeks Into The Daily Lives Of Dinosaurs appeared first on Listverse.

Keeping up with the news is hard. So hard, in fact, that we've decided to save you the hassle by rounding up the most significant, unusual, or just plain old mind-blowing stories each week. This week, the main story exploding the news waves seemed to be the terrible, horrible, no good week Donald Trump has […]
The post 10 Mind-Blowing Things That Happened This Week (3/1/19) appeared first on Listverse.

Today, a mother can go to the local shop and buy a bottle of baby food or a tub of formula or breastfeed her child herself if possible. Historically, however, a parent's only two options for feeding a baby were to breastfeed or employ a wet nurse. Often, it was society that would make up […]
The post 10 Facts On The History Of Breastfeeding And Baby Food appeared first on Listverse.

It may be tempting to think that Hollywood today has reached its lowest point in regard to its ethics and those of its stars. Unfortunately, it seems that the movie business has attracted scandal since its birth. In addition, to maintain the reputation of its stars, studios have always hired fixers, double dealers, and outright […]
The post 10 Golden Hollywood Scandals That Were Covered Up appeared first on Listverse.

Recently, there was a GoFundMe scam, which raised $400,000 to assist a homeless man who had allegedly given his last $20 to a damsel in distress on the side of the highway to refill her gas tank. This story was completely made up. Then there's the Manchester attack's homeless "hero," who may have pulled nails […]
The post 10 Times A Homeless Person Was A Hero (For Real) appeared first on Listverse.

Police officers find themselves involved in some pretty sticky situations with some pretty unsavory characters, and they often need help. Whether that help comes in the form of backup from other officers or just a stranger who happens to be passing by is irrelevant to the fact that police don’t always have the upper hand […]
The post 10 Times Good Samaritans Saved The Lives Of Police Officers appeared first on Listverse.

There's nothing quite like the prospect of a battlefield advantage to convince a general or politician to plow some money into a military project that might just work. As this list shows, however, innovation is always a gamble. For every radar or bouncing bomb, there are a handful of expensive, clunky duds. Some of the […]
The post 10 Bizarre Military Inventions That Almost Saw Deployment appeared first on Listverse.

Death is a frightening topic for almost everyone. But no matter what, it comes to all of us in the end. Some people—like those who die in accidents—have no control over how or when their demise will occur. Others—like those with long-term fatal illnesses—have time to decide how to face death. Still, there are some […]
The post 10 People From History Who Just Refused To Die appeared first on Listverse.

What do you do if you’re the victim of a crime? In the 21st century, you call the police. They go out and arrest the criminal, and an impartial justice system deals with him from there. You can go about your life, secure in the knowledge that the law makes sense, and everyone can expect […]
The post 10 Startling Facts About Crime And Punishment In English History appeared first on Listverse.

There are times when we would all like to have superpowers. For most of us, this has to remain an idle daydream. However, there are people walking among us who already have totally legitimate and totally cool superhuman powers. And who knows, perhaps these are the tip of the iceberg. There may be lots of […]
The post 10 Real-Life People With Real Superpowers appeared first on Listverse.

It may come as no surprise to you that many characters in the Star Wars franchise have elaborate backstories that have been explored in various books, comics, and animated series. If someone has a single line, they get a backstory! If someone pulls focus, they get a backstory! It's part of what makes the franchise […]
The post Top 10 ‘Star Wars’ Background Characters You Never Even Noticed appeared first on Listverse.

Fish tanks are tranquil until scientists want answers and drunk people want some fun. Then the fish stories start to get more than a little weird. Beyond the laboratory and fish-related emergency room visits, some of the best tales come from public aquariums. From lifesaving firsts to the mysterious case of a shark abandoned […]
The post Top 10 Weird Stories Involving Aquarium Fish appeared first on Listverse.

Many great writers have taken inspiration from real people in creating their work. In a number of cases, the person who motivated the author is well-known, ranging from Dante's inspiration Beatrice Portinari to F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife, Zelda, who was the model for Daisy in The Great Gatsby. But determining the sources of inspiration behind […]
The post 10 Mysterious People Who Inspired The Work Of Great Writers appeared first on Listverse.

The history of humankind is essentially the history of war itself. For as long as people have existed, so have reasons for them to fight, either for territorial domination, resources, or, in more recent cases, fossil fuel reserves. And throughout history, some units have fared much better at the job than any other, as we're […]
The post Top 10 Best Military Forces In History appeared first on Listverse.

Very little is known about most of the hangmen of North America. In Canada, hangmen often gave themselves aliases so as to hide their true identities. In the United States, the hangman was seldom named in newspapers, and his identity was kept secret from the general population. In many cases, a sheriff or deputy would […]
The post 10 Forgotten Hangmen Of North America appeared first on Listverse.

Mankind’s love of records left behind countless documents. Needless to say, some are so common that the very sight of them makes people regret going to the museum. Then there are the secret codes and oaths, unique manuscripts, and caves marked with people’s fear. Text-obsessed scholars are talking in dead tongues and admit once again […]
The post 10 Intriguing Cases Involving Rare Ancient Art And Writing appeared first on Listverse.

Australia is generally known for the Great Barrier Reef, the Sydney Opera House, and the diverse species of the outback. However, the continent’s encapsulating history is as dark as it is captivating. Australia’s story is one of blood and violence. With its famous past as a penal colony, the Australia of old was not for […]
The post Top 10 Vicious 19th-Century Australian Slaughters appeared first on Listverse.

Far too often, the media focuses on negative events while positive news items take a back seat. That's not the case here as this list covers only stories that inspire, amuse, and uplift. If weirdness is more your thing, you can check out the offbeat list, too. There are several stories this week of elderly […]
The post 10 Uplifting Stories To Get You Through The Week (2/24/19) appeared first on Listverse.

When a state has newspaper headlines that read, "Avoid reptiles as a holiday gift," then you know there's a problem. Florida has a reputation as the number-one state in the US for invasive species. Over the past decade or so, more than 260 exotic animals (that we know of) have escaped their cages and fled […]
The post 10 Exotic Pets That Escaped And Multiplied In The Florida Wilderness appeared first on Listverse.

With another week in the history books, it's time to sit back and review some of the stories that made the news over the last few days. Click here if you want to learn all about the major headlines. Otherwise, read on for unexpected and outlandish stories. This week’s list is a collection of international […]
The post 10 Offbeat Stories You Might Have Missed This Week (2/23/19) appeared first on Listverse.

Several governments around the world have hit lists of people they want dead. The lists usually contain names of people that are claimed by the governments to be terrorists or spies. As we are about to find out, this is not always so. Suspected terrorists, human right activists, and journalists have also been targeted. Not […]
The post 10 Governments That Secretly Have Kill Lists appeared first on Listverse.

Keeping up with the news is hard. So hard, in fact, that we've decided to save you the hassle by rounding up the most significant, unusual, or just plain old mind-blowing stories each week. This week, the phrase "spoke too soon" is the one that probably applies best to the news. You may recall last […]
The post 10 Mind-Blowing Things That Happened This Week (2/22/19) appeared first on Listverse.

Everyone knows that Elvis died on the toilet, and there have been many celebrity bathroom-related deaths since. Dying on the pot is not just a modern phenomenon, however. While it may seem an ignominious end to a life, there have been plenty of people throughout history who have had to suffer the indignity of being […]
The post 10 People Who Died On The Toilet (That Aren’t Elvis) appeared first on Listverse.

Coming-of-age rituals occur when someone who was considered a child is transformed into an adult in the eyes of society. This is usually done through some sort of test or celebration, though it varies greatly around the world. Modern-day rituals are common, and many of these extend far back in history. Examples of these ceremonies, […]
The post 10 Ancient Coming-Of-Age Rituals appeared first on Listverse.

Inside the world of extinct animals is a special club—species with dangerous looks. To get a meal or avoid becoming one, both predator and prey refined physical traits to interesting effect. From fangs in whales to herbivores with a taste for meat and carnivores unlike anything seen today, ancient animals were survival specialists. Recent fossils […]
The post 10 Ancient Creatures With Badass Facts And Features appeared first on Listverse.

Being an inventor has always seemed to be a pretty awesome career choice; if you’re good at, it you’re virtually guaranteed acclaim and a place in history. People who dream up the inventions that become part of our everyday lives are also allowed to be eccentric in ways that would get the average Joe fired […]
The post 10 Inventions That People Really Regretted Inventing appeared first on Listverse.

Alcohol often gets a bad rap. Check the number of accidents caused by drunk drivers or the people in prison for offenses they committed after they got too drunk. However, alcohol also has its good qualities. By that, we mean that it has saved the lives of several people and animals. Most of the time, […]
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The world has seemingly descended into chaos and confusion, as economic woes, political uncertainty, mental illness, and violence grip the world. These are safe and uncertain times, or so it seems, and our first responders, from EMTs to the fire department, are on the front line of dealing with the world’s chaos. When someone needs […]
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That cute emoji could get you in trouble. In the past few years, there has been an increase in emoji-related convictions. This happens because emojis can be used in place of real-life objects. For instance, sending a gun emoji to a person could be considered a death threat. Others involved in noncriminal issues have received […]
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Most people have wondered what happens after death, and there is no shortage of questions about what, if anything, follows the cessation of bodily function. Is there an afterlife? Will Elvis be there? Will my pets find me? If the following list is anything to go by, you can be sure that you will meet […]
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Food is not only a necessary part of life but one that plays a very important role in many different cultures, religions, and homes. It can bring people together, whether bonding over creating a new dish or passing down recipes from one to another. Food can be an indulgence for some, a reward for others, […]
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It’s a question that has grabbed the attention of humanity since long before history has been recorded. What life exists outside of this little ball that we call Earth? Whether we’re talking about the gods of Olympus or the Klingons of Star Trek, it is a theme that has appeared consistently throughout all of human […]
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Many already know about the infamous Emerald Triangle on the Lost Coast. Cannabis farms in this area of Northern California have remained hidden from detection for decades within the dense redwood forest. The tallest trees in the world are the perfect canopy of cover and a natural guard against intruders. Marijuana growers could thrive in […]
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Throughout history, humans have not stopped fighting wars.[1] We have an innate desire to live in peace, but then we see other people as our enemies, and chaos is unleashed. To this day, psychologists struggle to explain our inclination toward aggression and war, which is considered a pathological behavior of human beings. In fact, much […]
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Weed remains a firm favorite of recreational smokers. Not considered as damaging as drugs whipped up in a seedy laboratory, marijuana hides behind a "natural" look. However, this leafy habit can induce some hair-raising side effects. From heart attacks and shrinking brains to first psychotic episodes and the loss of happiness, pot may not be […]
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When we think of sunken cities, most of us think of Atlantis. According to Plato, it was a city of immense wealth, being rich in natural minerals and lush vegetation. Atlanteans were said to have built fantastic temples, displayed wealth, and created magnificent statues to the gods. Having once been a privileged and favored people, […]
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If we read or hear something today that sounds a little strange, all we have to do is check the facts. But before we all had access to Google in our back pockets, people relied on the truthfulness of reporters. This was even more impactful when radio was one of the only news sources. This […]
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Our genes do more than just determine our characteristics. They also influence other unbelievable things like our lifestyles, spending habits, eating preferences, and smelly armpits. That sounds weird, but it's true. This is the result of the way that evolution works. People with the most favorable genes survive, while people with unfavorable genes die off. […]
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If anything happened in the news over the last few days that might put a smile on your face, you will probably find it on this list. For the weirder stuff that is likely to bemuse or astound you, check the offbeat list as well. We have quite a few touching animal stories this week. […]
The post 10 Uplifting Stories To Get You Through The Week (2/17/19) appeared first on Listverse.

Behind the beady eyes and nighttime “ribbit” lurks a fascinating creature. Frogs and toads hop a weird line in life. They take buffalo taxis and use dating websites. Throughout human history, froggy feet have also left memorable prints, having inspired everything from famous novels to some of the earliest pregnancy kits. Centuries of studies could […]
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